AbstractsLanguage, Literature & Linguistics

In the selection of vocal literature for this recital, the objective was to choose music representative of several style periods. The result was a divergence of poetic styles with equally divergent problems of poetic interpretation. There are few musical problems in the Elizabethan Lute Songs. These songs are a product of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, an era when a certain level of musical proficiency was required of any learned person. The ability to sing or play an instrument was considered a necessity as one was expected to participate in the musicales following the dinner hour. The Lute Songs recapture the spirit and mood of the times. Their charm lies in the natural compliment between the voice and the lute. The sentiment of love is present in the texts of all the music of this recital. The subject of love has been favored by composers for texts throughout the history of secular song. The Lute Songs were quite frequently a lover's complaint at his misfortune in unrequited love. The texts of the 3 possie persiane concern themselves with the mystical power of love and the Five Poems of Walt Whitman with the love of humanity. The texts of An die ferne Geliebte and the Faure songs are based on lovers' lamentations. (See more in text)...